Chapter 12
Ryan locked himself in his dorm for two straight days.
His phone screen kept lighting up and going dark as he called Sienna’s number over and over, getting the same dead tone every time.
“Sir, there’s no record of Miss Hart’s enrollment anywhere in the system,” his family’s private investigator reported over the phone. “No domestic flight records either. Could she have… used
different documentation?”
Ryan’s knuckles went white around his phone, thumb tracing over Sienna’s contact photo – a candid he’d taken of her laughing at something stupid he’d said.
He swallowed hard. “Keep looking.”
After hanging up, he slumped in his desk chair, staring at textbooks without seeing a single word. The sounds of college life filtered through his door – people heading to parties, music from down the hall- but it all felt muffled and distant.
The next morning, frantic knocking woke him up.
Nina stood in his doorway holding coffee and bagels, dark circles under her eyes. “Ryan, you’ve missed like four classes. Your advisor came by asking if you were sick. Are you okay?”
Ryan stepped aside to let her in, not trusting his voice.
Nina set the food on his desk, then went to get him water from the mini–fridge. That’s when her old phone slipped out of her jacket pocket, clattering onto the carpet.
It was this ancient flip phone she’d had since transferring schools – cracked screen, basically held together with hope and a phone case covered in stickers.
རཌ ༤ ཨ ཇ
Something about it made Ryan’s stomach clench. Those text messages he’d seen flashed through his mind.
“I’ll get it,” he said, lunging for the phone before Nina could react.
“No, it’s fine! That thing barely works anyway.” Nina’s voice went sharp with panic as she reached for it.
But Ryan had already picked it up. The lock screen showed her birthday – the same date she’d made
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From Ract Frianda ..
Chapter 12
him take her out for dinner last month.
He typed it in.
The second Ryan opened the photo gallery, his breath caught in his throat.
Screenshot after screenshot of Nina’s group chats.
[I paid this hacker to get into her college portal ages ago. Changed all her applications. Even if she somehow made it to Boston, she’d have nowhere to go. No way she’s staying in the same city as Ryan.]
[Ryan? He feels so guilty about me getting hurt that he believes whatever I tell him]
[Once I’m established here, he’ll forget all about Sienna Hart. Trust me.]
Ryan’s hands started shaking uncontrollably, heat rushing to his head before draining away just as fast, leaving him cold all over.
He remembered Sienna sitting at her laptop that day, frustrated. “Why does this stupid portal keep saying someone else is logged into my account?”
He remembered her panicked phone call: “Ryan, I think someone changed my college applications. What do I do?” And he’d dismissed her. “You’re being paranoid. It’s probably just a glitch.”
He remembered every time Sienna had tried to step aside for Nina, how she’d pushed him toward this girl over and over again.
“Ryan, stop looking at that!” Nina lunged for the phone, her nails raking across his knuckles and leaving red marks.
Ryan jerked his head up, eyes blazing with a fury that made Nina take a step back.
He shoved her away from him, his voice deadly quiet. “Explain this. Right fucking now.”
He thrust the phone screen in her face, the screenshots glowing like evidence in a courtroom. “You hacked her applications? You paid someone to destroy her future?”
Nina stumbled backward into his desk, tears immediately streaming down her face. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far! Ryan, please let me explain-”
“Explain what?!” Ryan’s voice was shaking with pure rage. “Explain how you destroyed her entire life? Or explain how you’ve been playing the victim this whole time?!”
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From Nast Priand.
Chapter 12
“I was just terrified of losing you!” Nina threw herself at him, trying to wrap her arms around his waist. He jerked away like she was toxic.
“Sienna has everything! Rich parents, your love, a perfect life – but all I have is you! If I didn’t do something, you never would have noticed me!” She clung to his shirt, sobbing dramatically like she was the injured party.
“So you decided to sabotage her?”
Ryan stared at her tear–streaked face with complete disgust. “Nina, I was grateful to you for taking that hit. But that doesn’t give you the right to destroy Sienna’s future. Tell me right now – where did you send her applications?”
The thought of how well he’d treated Nina while she was systematically ruining the girl he loved made him physically sick.
“I… I don’t remember! I just picked some random community college somewhere!” Nina’s voice was getting higher, more desperate.
“Community college?!”
The words hit Ryan like a freight train. He shoved Nina away from him so hard she stumbled. “Get
the fuck out of my room!”
“Ryan, I know I messed up, but please forgive me just this once! I’ll never do anything like this again,
I swear-”
Ryan didn’t even look at her. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.
The slam echoed through the entire hallway, motion sensor lights flickering on as he leaned against the wall.
His chest was heaving, throat burning with the metallic taste of pure fury.
He’d spent months defending this psychotic girl while she systematically destroyed the person he’d loved since childhood.
And Sienna… God, where was Sienna now?
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